Los Caballeros de Avila

Today is the first day of the "Los Caballeros de Avila" event, and the weather has been cooperative thus far (unlike recent years).  The golf course maintenance crew has been working extended hours all week to fine-tune the golf course for this weekend's festivities, including mowing the greens as many as three times a day!  With the spring weather working in our favor once again and the days getting longer, the grass is growing at an accelerated rate and filling in much of the damage done by the low light conditions of the winter months.  Since faster growing grass leads to slower speeds we have taken a number of steps to keep things moving the way the membership likes the course.  Every surface of the golf course has been mowed 2-5 times more over the last two weeks than was necessary over the winter!  Mowing heights have been reduced across the board, and growth regulator has been used to reduce vertical growth and encourage lateral growth.  The greens have also been "groomed" many times over the past weeks providing more upright blades of grass, reducing surface contact on the ball and increasing greens speeds.  We will continue to work split shifts throughout the weekend to provide the best playing conditions possible and hope that everyone has a great weekend!